One thing I have always loved about motorsports is the paradigm of the sacrifices involved to conquer personal achievements along the way. One achievement that has eluded me for 6 years has been to successfully navigate the drift-course at Road Atlanta… specifically the entry into 10a, and linking the downhill section tracking out of the horseshoe back down to 10b (sans-manji).
Perched at the top of the hill talking to my buddy Joshua Herron… I couldn’t help but ponder all the years of bad luck, broken parts, STUPID limp-mode, ecu problems. I’ve basically been cursed. Seriously.
The duration of practice would unfold in much the same manner as the past… cursed. Even with a fully-functioning hydraulic e-brake – I still wasn’t acclimated to the point of total comfort. I even had another close call with a flat-spin in the narrow patch of grass between the track and the wall. My Yokohamas had SO much grip that they rocketed me right towards the wall. It scared me so bad I threw up in my mouth.When qualifying came around… we cranked the tyre pressures up around 60-65, and with some advice from Eugene, I came flying into 10a without my normal flick to set the car up. To my surprise… IT WORKED.
With the entry checked off my list, all I had to do was get the car back down the hill out of the horseshoe. My buddy Mike Peters had called me a week prior and given me some advice on my line to help me do this. To my surprise… IT ALSO WORKED.
Back down the hill I went, with just enough wheelspeed, momentum, and RPMs to get within reach of 10b. It would take a massive handful of that e-brake… but it would work.
To say that I was excited would be a MASSIVE understatement. Hell… Cloud-9 still doesn’t quite describe it. I had been fighting this track for 6 years… and with the help of all my friends, Matt Foerst, Kieran O’Brien, Eugene Chou and Mike Peters… I was able to finally break my Road Atlanta curse.
I ended up qualifying 8th, and was paired up with Jason Giovanni from Florida for top 16. On my lead-run… Jason straighted out, and on Jason’s lead-run… I straightened out. I think it should have gone OMT, but it didn’t – and Jason moved on. I was still so excited about my qualifying runs… that I didn’t even care that I got knocked out.
I don’t expect everyone to understand what a special moment this was for me. Tons of dudes rip this track every year with little trouble. I never thought this 3300lb car could get it’s 180 horses to push it through the track like this. I had it drilled into my own head that I couldn’t… and with the help of my friends… I did it.
I was able to hang out with all the DriftMechaniks/Team Rowdy dudes and just have a good time. These dudes are the best on the planet, and I dare anyone to attempt to prove otherwise.
This was a day I will NEVER forget.
EVER.
I walked away from Southeast Drift’s Land of the Great at Gresham Motorsports Park unscathed and uneasy.
Newly poured asphalt adorns the raceway, as Gresham itself is a freshly renovated facility. I don’t know if they have some sort of compound additive in the pavement, but the track has an immense amount of grip… making is VERY difficult for a 180hp tank to break loose. I was attempting to initiate faster than I have ever initiated… only to have the car set and hug the bank like I was going for a better lap time. The few occasions I could snap the car loose on the bank, it sucked the power dry from my rear wheels, pulling me right down toward the inner-wall. Fast.
I (somehow) managed to qualify seventh, and was paired up with my buddy Dennis Mertzanis for the tandem comp. I didn’t feel comfortable running solo – let alone tandem, so I told Dennis to steer clear of me… that I was basically going to forfeit the run to him. Dennis went on to take home 2nd place.A fairly big-name in Atlanta’s drift scene approached me at the end of the day, and told me ‘this is the next level for drifting here’, and ‘that drivers are going to have to step it up if they want to participate’. This bothered me for several reasons… the biggest being FOR WHAT? This is grassroots drifting… it is supposed to be about having fun. What fun is wadding your car up into a wall, and having to sit the next season out because you ‘stepped it up’? For the majority of us who actually have an emotional stake in our cars – totaling it out trying to be a g-roots hero would be devastating. DEVASTATING.
I probably will not be back to drive at Gresham. The risk just isn’t worth it to me… especially when I (and the rest of Atlanta, really) have nothing to prove. Drifting already has its superstars. I just want to have fun with my friends.
We’re so underground… we’re undergroundDriftMechaniks 2-3-4-5
SEDC Round 1.
2008 Driver Profile – Andy Sapp. from Andy Sapp on Vimeo.
This edit is well over a year in the making. This cut is as close to perfect as I will ever get it. This video is the most thorough, polished, and complete example of my abilities behind the wheel… and my abilities behind a computer. Period.This digital short showcases the past 3 years of my professional drift effort. Features amalgamated footage from Formula Drift and Nopi Drift events, as well as various Nopi/NDRA demos, grassroots competitions, practice events, SPEED TV, and other television appearances.
Very very special thanks to everyone who provided me with the footage to edit this video.
Soundtrack by Slayer.
Keep drifting fun. OR ELSE.
It was a long weekend, and a great event. Plenty of fierce battles between old friends and veteran drifters alike. It made for an amazing time, and a fantastic weekend.After the dust settled… I almost lost an eye, had 6 destroyed tyres, and a 3rd place trophyDetails to come shortly.
After breaking a sway bar end-link during tandem competition, I mananged to bring home a 2nd place finish! The track was very high-speed, and incredibly bumpy. Trying to tandem with a broken end-link was interesting to say the least… but overall a great event!
I had an amazing weekend up in St. Louis with the Slide America BMW. The car performed beatifully, and the BFGoodrich tires were amazing! Gran Turismo East and Foerst Motorwerks helped set the car up for it’s first professional podium finish! This has been long overdue… and feels especially sweet considering I’m pushing half the horsepower!I won’t even get into how fierce the battles were… otherwise I will write an entire book. Let’s just say this weekend was BEYOND INSANE… and let the pictures do the talking..
After a day of “shaking the rust off”, I finished top-8 at Drift Fury in St. Louis at Gateway International Raceway!
I managed a top-8 finish in Cordele, GA this weekend for round 2 of the SCCA Drift Series at Watermelon Speedway! There was a questionable call made in regard to my opponent’s advancement, but a great event for sure!
The third round of Drift Fury was insane! Atlanta’s Illest took two podium finishes, with Jonathan “Marty” Martin finishing in first! The points race for the series is INCREDIBLY close, with a two-point spread between Marty and myself for the championship!
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Competition was fierce at Turner Field for round 2 of Drift Fury! When the dust settled, I was left standing atop the podium! It was a DriftMechaniks 1-2-3, as we swept the podium! Erin Sanford took 2nd place, Jonathan Martin took 3rd, and Sammy from Tiger Racing took 4th!
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A short video off the Drift Fury website:
After a sleepless night of car-prep… with the entire rear-end of the car on the floor of the shop less than 20 hours before the drivers meeting… the first round of Drift Fury was a success!
The beginning of the day was my first chance to shake-down the car, and get used to the solid rear-end. The car felt amazing. There used to be a noticable rebound on kick-back… that was no longer there. The car just wanted to keep going. It took some getting used to… but felt really great.
With 60 drivers in the feild… and elimination from 60 to 8… competition was fierce. The Top-8 elimination would leave Aaron Losey, Jonathan Martin, myself, Dennis Mertzanis, Forest Luster, Shawn Smith, Erin Sanford, and Rob Fellows standing.
Despite falling asleep in my helmet while staged for Top-8 (literally)… Erin Sanford and I would end up having a “one-more-time” battle, with close runs the first time around. In the end, Aaron Losey walked away with 1st place, Jonathan Martin with 2nd, myself with 3rd, and Dennis Mertzanis with 4th.
Afterwards, the skateboard made it’s way out of the truck, and a bunch of us started kicking it around old-skool style. It’s crazy how many drifters skate (or used to). It was a rad time, even if I was falling asleep randomly. ;P
After the Formula Drift Qualifier was wrapped up in Houston… we blazed trails to Lousiana for the Import Face-Off invitational. It was gawt damed AWESOME. It was a road course that was very challenging (for underpowered cars :))… And by mid-day we were killing it. Hot lapping the entire circuit with non-stop drift madness at every corner.
Marty, Dan and I all made top 8. Marty and I both advanced once, to be eliminated. I was taken out by the 1st place finisher (mostly due to fuel cut with gas sloshed to one side), and Marty was taken out by the second place finisher… Also in a Miata.
Marty and I got to battle it out for 3rd/4th… Just like the drift expo!!1 it was AWESOME. From what we were told it was the best tandem of the day. We got SUPER close, and finished it off with some slow manji standing burnouts for the crowd to finish the day.
People at the event were SO stoked about drifting. It was really a cool day, and it totally validated all the stress, sleep deprivation, and personal anguish I put myself through in the two weeks prior to the event. It was an amazing track and an amazing day.
Next competition they run there we HAVE to go back!
Some video from the event:
Better late then never, I suppose… here’s a recap and some photos from the Formula D qualifier at Gulf Greyhound Park in Houston, TX.
Three events… Three days… Summed up: pure mayhem. The FD qualifier was a mess. Everyone was ripping it on the practice day prior to the qualifying event. There was a lot of speculation as to who was going to walk away with a license. It was looking really good for a lot of people.
THEN… it rained, turned all the dirt and sand in the lot to mud… and everyone turned on suck-mode… including myself. If it had rained, and continued raining, circumstances would have been different. But the rain had time to dry… slightly. So the track surface went from mud, to wet, to dry, to wet, to mud again – and if you hit that last patch of mud, you would completely wash off course.
I felt like I was actually running decent considering the situation… then qualifying started. I NEVER have issues with understeer. NEVER. NEVER EVER. I hadn’t understeered the entire weekend. Then by some stroke of magic (or lack thereof), I understeered three out of four runs… IN A ROW. I didn’t feel good about it at all. I knew I wouldn’t be getting a license. The thought of not getting a license didn’t bother me at all… but not quite understanding where my understeer issues came from did. I’ve since deduced that it was a combination of factors, such as tyres from Irwindale on the front (Dunlop left me high and dry on tyres) – and they moved the course in to help avoid the muddy-puddled area… which played a significant role in changing the track surface.
They only gave one FD license… To Quoc Luy in his satin black 13 hatch. A provisional license was given for the first three events to Wes Hamachi the green Garage 112 hachi. Two invites were given to the qualifier in San Diego. One to “Hachi Bill” Sherman from No Ants… And the other invite to me.
After the announcement was made we all went back out for an amazing session filled with tandem madness. It was sooo much fun. Once the pressure was taken out of the equation, and it dried up a little… People were ripping it. It was an AWESOME session!
http://www.driftday.com/fdtxqualifier_results.htm
